Can police just search minors?

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uisgdlyast

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Sep 26, 2002
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Hi in the middle with o's on the end
Well dont go into how i should of stayed inside or whatever, but me and my friends were in my friend's yard smoking a bowl. The police walked in the backyard and say they smell pot. We dont say who has it and the cop just starts sticking his hands in everyone's pockets and pulling everytting out. They asked our ages after, and my friend had everything on him. They arrest us and take our names(stalling in the middle of the street for everyone to see) and then our parents come pick us up at the station. The police said dumb comments like "you guys just pass? Thats a surprise"(wanted to tell him i got a 4.0) and "You dont smoke ciggarettes? just moved to pot?".

Anyways i can go to court in my city or at juvenile court downtown.. they said i can probably do community service and a program and it wont be on my record if i go to the city.

My questions are were they right in searching us? i knew we should of been inside, but it was his backyard. Also would it be better to go downtown? i hear they arent as harsh because they see kids who have done murder. I'm also wondering if they can just stick their hands in our pockets and around my waist without asking, but i guess they could since they could smell it
 
well, they can search anyone, but they should ask first, if they didnt it could be considered unjust, what bothers me is that they just walked into your backyard, im sure they are not allowed to do this, or were you in the front.

good luck with all of it.

cops suck, were your parents ok with it all??

CuPillar - the copper pillar
 
Your expectation of privacy in the backyard--especially in someone else's backyard, is lower than had you been inside your own home. Nonetheless, I'm a little taken aback by the officer quickly sticking his hands in your pockets. I'm still wakin up and need to get to class so I'll come back to this later or pass it off to someone else ;)
 
You said the smell of marijuana was rather pronounced. The search the cops made was definitely physically intrusive, but they would argue (probably successfully) that since the smell of marijuana was present, the search was justified.

It's almost always better to be treated as a juvenile and if I were you I would probably go downtown.

As for the police making snide remarks to you about your age and school status... cops can be real dicks sometimes. :p Try not to take it to heart. Let this be a lesson learned to you about, if you choose to smoke marijuana, to use it in places and situations where the risk of getting in trouble is minimized.

Good luck, and make sure and post an update on what happens.
 
So what should i do? I mean is there anything, i know the cops will just make some crap up. I also think they're gonna try to get me tried local and have me do some stupid program and community service. THis is my first offense on anything and i think i finished this year off with a 4.0, so what can happen to me? i mean i would like to go downtown but could that be worse?

Yes we were in the backyard, i guess someone called and then they just came. I saw them peeking by the driveway and then they just walked in, told us they smelled it, and said we could make it easy.. blah blah.. since no one said anything they started searching us. I was going to say that i did not accept a search of my person but, being a minor, i was not sure how they would react or what not. We all pretty much kept silent, they're supposed to send a letter with my court date.

It's amazing how they try to teach us civil rights by not giving us any, i learned in school students dont have any...

Anyways, sorry for being long, but should i challenge the search? And what about being tried downtown or the city courtroom? How can that differ?
I just dont want to make it worse.

Thanks
 
Well, was it a legal search? That's a tough one. A lawyer would be the best person to speak with at this point.

Should you try to challange this in court? Well, since you are talking about Juvy court, things work differntly. You are not going to walk in and say "hey man, those cops had no right to search me.." you'll be laughed outta the room!

Basicly, you need to look at what your going to be given. Talk with a laywer, they can advise you what the outcome will be. If it's going to be 20 hours of community service, and no record.. then just take it and deal.

If it's going to be a drug re-hab program, that involve's weekly drug tests.. might be time to think about hireing that lawyer to defend you.

Maybe they will go easy on you, you might simply state that while you were present, you had not consumed any of the drugs and the search of your person turned up nothing. You could point out you hold a 4.0 and bring records from school to prove this. You could explain that it was a party, and you didnt know that drugs would be present. If you look honest and your not a dick to the judge or the cops, you might just get a stern warning from the judge and that's it. It might help to dress nice, and remove all earrings/nose rings etc. Look, THIS IS A GAME! The justice system is a BIG GAME. So your playing by there rules now!

Finnaly, if you have the option of a JV court or a nomal court. I'd actully choose the normal court. Yes, you'll need a lawyer, yes it will cost more and may take a bit more time. However, if you have the money for the lawyer, your chances of getting away scott free will be more in the normal court. A good lawyer would be the key here.

Jay
 
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^^^ I have to respectfully disagree that adult court is the best course of action. I have heard of very few occasions where this is the case; primarily because juvenile records can far more easily be expunged and thus have a lesser effect, if any, on the defendant's future employment opportunities among other things. You are probably correct that it offers the best chance of getting off "scot free," but the search on the surface appears to have been legally conducted (for the simple reason that the smell of marijuana was obvious and perceived without the cops having to enter a home). That being said...

consulting a lawyer is absolutely the best way to proceed, uisgdlyast. The attorney will be able to advise you in a far more concrete manner as to whether the search was legal or not. It helps substantially that you have a 4.0 and I assume you don't have a prior record. If you are offered a deal of community service, by all means take it.

Thelazer is correct that court is not the place to express one's individual fashion sense ;) so a shirt and tie, or a suit (even better) would be an excellent choice to wear to court, if it becomes necessary for you to go.

Keep us posted on what happens, and good luck- as daunting as the legal process seems, what happened to you is unfortunately very common with the "war on drugs." :X Get a good attorney and keep your wits about you, and you will do just fine.
 
maybe its because im not familliar with the fucked up US drug laws...but you said they searched you and you had nothing on you....if this is the case...then what are they even charging you for? i live in Canada and *SO* many times have me and my friends been blazing and seen the pigs roll up so we just toss our shit onto the ground...we may dank like reefer, but we aint got shit on us and they just take your name and leave....last i checked it wasnt illegal to merely be under the influence of a drug (unless of course there are agrivating factors such as operation of a motor vehicle)....but from what you told me i dont even know why anyone but your friend who had pot on him is even still involved.....

my legal advice for you would be to get a good lawyer and fight the charge....lucky for me my stepdads a judge/ex-lawyer so anytime i need one its free...but shit...even a public defender is better than nothing...dont go in on your own...and for god sakes, look nice...ive talked to my stepdad about this shit and a surprisingly large number of perps show up at court looking like shit...a judge is not gunna trust your word if your a trashy loser...luckilly it sounds like your a pretty clean cut kid, so you should be fine

good luck and let us know how it turns out for you...
 
Thanks for the help, i'll talk to my parents about a lawyer.. the police said it would probably be just community service and a program. Plus on the grounds that someone called and reported seeing us, and they smelled it i know they will side with the police and say it was a justified search. So, my parents probably wouldn't want to pay for a lawyer unless it would be more serious.
How will i know the severity of it? When i'm actually in the courtroom, and when it's too late to get a real lawyer? Also how long away should i expect the court date, someone said it will probably take a few months because our city is slow.

I'll dress nicely, make sure i get a nice haircut and shave my beard before i go in, with my body type and no facial hair i look like an innocent young boy... i hate it, but if it will work in my favor.

I was also looking for a job, so i imagen it would be best to get one before anything is put on record.

*EDIT* to the post above, my friend had it on him.. and i guess since we didn't rat him out and were doing it too we were all charged with possession. That is why my mom said to use a joint and just eat it, wise words...
 
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If the cops have something like a tip off and when they turn up they can smell it, they are justified in the search. If they reasonably believe that there is an offence being committed they are allowed to search.
 
A cops first task is to gain control over the situation. They don't care if you are in diapers they can search you for weapons.
Get used to it. Damn the man!
 
What?!

Can you get charged for possession just by being in the presence of someone with illicit substances in the US?

Fucking ridiculous....
 
^^^^

Yes, in some cases. Some statutes define possession in terms of who has the ability to exercise control over the item, not just who the bag/drug really belongs to. If, for example, you are pulled over with your friends and there is a bag of weed sitting on the middle console, each passenger in the vehicle could, in theory, be charged with possession. Again, the rules of possession vary from location to location.
 
I know you have been all waiting for my response to what has happened.. its been well over a month (like 6-8 weeks) and i got nothing.
My dad even called and asked about it, they dont have a file of it ever happening(when he told me i almost freaked out, i mean why the fuck would you want to remind them?)

But i would like to know if i get caught again.. would that be a first offense now or second? i mean i'm not positive they dont have it on record. But i plan on never getting caught, i even cut back A LOT
 
Alright the main thing I would like to know.

Did they read you your rights?

You said they arrested you, So were your rights read?
 
they arrested you and your friends so they could call your parents and have your parents pick you up, they only charged your buddy that had the dope on him because they couldn't charge the rest of you if you had no control over the dope, if they would have piss tested you they could have said you were under the influence of a controlled substance but they didn't so that's why you weren't charged. i started reading this thread and absolutely could not believe you got charged with possession when you didn't even have the dope, it was blowing my mind as there is no way in hell it would have held up in court, this explains everything. good luck, avoid the pigs
 
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